Adriano Moraes took a crucial step toward a rematch with Kairat Akhmetov by submitting Tilek Batyrov to win the ONE Championship interim flyweight title on Saturday.
Moraes (15-2) submitted Tilek Batyrov with a rear-naked choke with just 11 seconds left in the second round to set up a rematch with 125-pound champion Kairat Akhmetov, who beat him by split decision at ONE Championship 34 this past November to win the belt. Akhmetov currently is sidelined by injury.
The fight was the main event of ONE Championship 45, which took place at Cotai Arena at The Venetian Macao in Macau, China. The card streamed via online pay-per-view.
Batyrov moved in early, but Moraes had no problem taking him down. Moraes tried to get some punches off from inside Batyrov’s guard, and a few got through. Batyrov tried to work a choke, but Moraes easily countered it. Batyrov was able to get back to his feet with about a minute left and landed a left hand to get some distance.
The second round featured more solid work for Moraes on the ground, and a solid north-south choke from the Brazilian looked good – until Batyrov finally fought his way out of it. But Moraes remained dominant on the canvas the rest of the frame until he saw his opening.
He passed to mount with 40 seconds left and worked good ground-and-pound until Batyrov rolled over. Moraes took his back and got a rear-naked choke with 17 seconds left in the round. It took only a few seconds for Batyrov to realize there was no way out and he was forced to tap with 11 seconds left in the round.
“It feels so good this time,” Moraes said. “Now I have a new chance (to fight Akhmetov). Akhmetov, where are you, man? I can see you so close to me now. I’m here again.”
Moraes won for the second straight time since losing his flyweight title to Akhmetov by split decision. Batyrov had a two-fight winning streak snapped and lost his ONE Championship debut.
Eduard Folayang vs. Adrian Pang
Eduard Folayang tops gritty Adrian Pang by decision
In the lightweight co-main event, Eduard Folayang (16-5) had to be wondering just what he needed to do to put Adrian Pang (22-9-2) away. No matter what he threw and landed, with regularity, Pang took it and kept coming forward. Still, Folayang took a unanimous decision.
Folayang hoped to get his kicks working early, but it didn’t keep Pang from moving inside to throw hands. Ninety seconds in, Pang raised his hands along the fence and basically asked Folayang to kick him – so he did, right in the neck. Two minutes in, Pang had a solid guillotine attempt, but when he couldn’t keep it, Folayang got on top, then landed a brilliant hip toss into side control when the fight moved back to the feet. On the ground, Folayang controlled things with ease, then worked for a guillotine of his own with 30 seconds left. He couldn’t finish it, but with two seconds left, Folayang landed a massive spinning back fist that put Pang on his knees. He popped back up immediately, only to eat a kick. But Pang raised his hands as if to say, “What?”
In the second, Pang had a great chance with a guillotine choke from his back, but Folayang fought his way out of it and tried to work ground-and-pound from up top in Pang’s guard while Pang fired back. Midway through, back on the feet, Folayang again threw a spinning back fist that landed. Twenty seconds later, he threw a big spinning kick, then another seconds later. Still, Pang stayed upright. Late in the round, another pair of completely flush spinning fists landed for Folayang and bloodied Pang up – but Pang kept coming forward.
Right away in the third, Folayang landed a massive right hand that put Pang on his back. Folayang dropped down and went to work on the ground while Pang tried to recover. A minute after getting planted, Pang swept around and got on top and worked ground-and-pound of his own. Pang kept working from the top, but he couldn’t put Folayang into any real danger for the rest of the fight – leaving Folayang to take the unanimous decision.
Honorio Banario
Honorio Banario outlasts Eddie Ng in thrilling scrap
Eddie Ng (7-4) came out looking like a man possessed for his lightweight fight against Honorio Banario (10-6), but it was Banario who was able to have enough in the tank down the stretch to take a unanimous decision.
Ng came out slugging with hooks, and that forced Banario to tie things up to settle the fight down. When the fight hit the ground, it was Ng who had the better position until the fight suddenly popped back to the feet. And when it did, the referee stopped things to check cuts on both fighters. Late in the frame, Banario landed some heavy punches, but Ng fired back with knees.
The fighters continued to battle back and forth in the second until Ng took Banario down with 1:45 left in the frame and went right into mount. Banario gave his back, and Ng worekd for a rear-naked choke. But Banario scrambled out with a minute left, only to find himself fighting off a guillotine choke. They went back to trading punches and kicks with 30 seconds left, and both appeared to be hitting the wall. A third-round takedown for Ng no doubt helped him, but Banario got back to his feet with 70 seconds left needing to put something together.
Banario pushed an exhausted Ng off with 30 seconds left and knocked him to the ground, then landed some big punches before the horn. Ng’s exhaustion late in the fight, combined with ONE Championship bouts being judged on the whole fight and not round-by-round, were big factors in Banario taking the unanimous nod.
Martin Nguyen vs. Christian Lee
Martin Nguyen stuns unbeaten Christian Lee in first
Martin Nguyen (7-1) shook things up against 18-year-old featherweight prospect Christian Lee (5-1). The two slugged it out with punches and kicks straight away. When Nguyen knocked Lee down with a punch, Lee was up quickly – but right into a guillotine choke from Nguyen. He had it tight, and Lee refused to tap. When they dropped back to the ground, Lee was out with 30 seconds left in the first. Lee, the brother of ONE Championship women’s atomweight champ Angela Lee, had been unbeaten in his first five pro fights – all by first-round stoppage.
ONE Championship 45 results:
- Adriano Moraes def. Tilek Batyrov via submission (rear-naked choke) – Round 2, 4:49 – to win interim flyweight title
- Eduard Folayang def. Adrian Pang via unanimous decision
- Honorio Banario def. Eddie Ng via unanimous decision
- Martin Nguyen def. Christian Lee via submission (guillotine choke) – Round 1, 4:30
- Alexandre Machado def. Alain Ngalani via submission (strikes) – Round 2, 0:21
- Istela Nunes def. Mei Yamaguchi via split decision
- Ma Jia Wen def. Jimmy Yabo via TKO (strikes) – Round 3, 2:31
- Ma Hao Bin def. Chan Rothana via unanimous decision – Round 3, 5:00
- Joshua Pacio def. Kritsada Kongsrichai via submission (rear-naked choke) – Round 1, 4:37
For more on ONE Championship 45, check out the MMA Events section of the site.
Filed under: News
View full post on News | MMAjunkie